Counting mechanism



Oct. 2, 1956 w. c. BROEKHUYSEN ETAL 2,765,113

COUNTING MECHANISM Filed March 26. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

I INVENTORS WILLIAM C. BROEKHUYSEN SAMUEL GILMAN BY VINCENT J. PETRUOELLY ATTORNF'Y Oct. 2, 1956 w. c. BROEKHUYSEN EI'AL 2,765,118

COUNTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 26. 1951 m WWW on E il wmm vm m 0 m m J J 7 4 Y 3 3 6 4 4 44 8 4 4 3 4 4 M United States Patent COUNTING MECHANISM William C. Broekhuysen, Brooklyn, N. Y., Samuel Gilman, Maplewood, N. .l., and Vincent J. Petrucelly, New York, N. Y., assignors to American Machine and Foundry Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application March 26, 1951, Serial No. 217,568

2 Claims. (Cl. 2335-98) This invention relates to counting apparatus, particularly to counters employed with automatic machines producing material at rapid rates of speed such as cigarettes and also to means for incapacitating such apparatus.

In the past cigarettes have been counted in various ways. For example, a mechanical counter has sometimes been attached and operated from a moving part of the cigarette machine which caused a count to be made whenever the machine was running. This had the disadvantage that the counter would operate whenever the machine was run even though no cigarettes were produced. To overcome this difficulty photo-electric counters were employed to count the number of cigarettes passing by a light beam. This had the disadvantage that such a counter had to be at the discharge end of a cigarette making machine where 0 the cigarettes are separated and move sldewise from a longitudinal path of travel. The counter in this case also was not completely accurate because any breakage of the beam by another object such as a moving hand or brush would cause an inaccurate count to be made.

It is therefore a purpose of this invention to provide a counter which will be free from these disadvantages and which will be of simple design, foolproof construction, accurate in operation and which will only count cigarettes that are actually being produced.

Another object is to provide an apparatus which will incapacitate a counter whenever a rod stops moving past a detecting device.

A further object is to provide a simple device for indicating the quality of material being produced continuously by a machine.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses. In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which make up the drawings.

Fig. l is a side elevation of a continuous rod cigarette making machine showing a detector for the cigarette counting mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a wiring diagram illustrating the circuit for operating the cigarette counter.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view illustrating the detecting and counting by means of the cutoff knife.

With reference to Figure l, the continuous rod cigarette machine consists of an automatic tobacco feed F and a cigarette maker M. The principal components of the cigarette maker M consist of a rod folder tongue U, a rod former V, a cigarette rod paster P, a rod sealer S, a cutoff device C, and a cigarette catcher or collector H. In operation, the tobacco feed F showers tobacco in a manner well known to the art continuously on to a traveling tape (not shown) which in turn delivers the tobacco ribbon on to a traveling paper web W. The latter is fed from a reel Y and is guided through the rod folder tongue U, the rod paster P, which applies a line of paste to the lap edge of the cigarette red, the rod former V and the Patented Oct. 2, 1956 rod sealer S by means of a continuously moving folding belt 4 driven by means of a drum 6. The continuous cigarette rod R emerging from the rod former plates V passes past a suitable detector 8 into the cut-off mechanism C where a knife K cuts off individual cigarettes L which are then pushed through the guide tube 10 onto a continuously driven collector belt of the catcher or collector mechanism H. Electrodes 8 are provided for detecting the variations in impedance of a cigarette rod passing the electrodes or plates 8.

The drum 6 is mounted on the shaft 12 which by means of a pair of beveled gears 14 is driven by a shaft 16. On shaft 16 is mounted a gear 18 meshing with a gear 20 secured to a shaft 22. The latter carries a gear 24 which is driven by a gear 26 mounted on a shaft 28 which by means of a suitable coupling 30 is connected to the motor shaft of a motor 31. Shaft 22 by means of a pair of suitable spiral gears 32 rotates a vertical shaft 34 which in turn provides the driving means for the cigarette cut-off mechanism C. The cigarette maker M is also provided with a mounter Z which consists of a mechanical counter mechanism 36 which is actuated through a shaft 33 by means of a magnetic clutch 40. One half of the magnetic clutch 40 is continuously driven in synchronism with the cigarette maker by means of a sprocket 42 and a chain 44 which meshes with the sprocket 46 mounted on the shaft 48 protruding from a suitable gear reduction drive 50.

The latter is continuously driven by shaft 16 mentioned heretofore. A suitable control box 52 mounted on brackets 54 attached to the machine encloses the electrical control mechanism for our counting apparatus which will now be described.

The counter becomes actuated only by the passage or motion of the cigarette rod at the detecting point. If the detector should detect that a rod is not moving through the cigarette machine, our invention will stop the counter from operating. This situation may arise for example where there is a rod failure and the rod does not pass through the electrodes. It may also occur where rod stops moving through the electrodes. In both situations no counting is desired because no cigarettes are actually being produced.

In practice, the rod is passed through a set of spaced electrodes which are located just before the cut-off. The electrodes are placed at this location because it is not possible for the rod to break after the cut-off. Therefore, whenever the rod breaks, no rod will move past the electrodes, and although the cigarette machine still continues operating, no count is obtained. In other words, counting occurs only when the rod is both in the electrodes and is in motion. If the rod stops moving and remains in the electrodes, the count ceases.

The action of tobacco as a dielectric is utilized in this device. A high frequency voltage is impressed across the spaced electrodes 8. The impedance of the tobacco to the high frequency varies with the amount of tobacco present in the cigarette rod. With suitable amplification these variations are utilized to indicate the motion of the rod, since the variations are a result of the motion.

When the rod is stationary, a voltage is obtained which is related to the impedance of that part of the rod within the electrodes. However, this is not a fluctuating voltage because the impedance between the electrodes is constant. As soon as the rod starts moving the impedance between the electrodes changes with time because the amount of tobacco changes with time. As a result the output voltage of the device fluctuates in accordance with the variations in impedance. Any frequency which results in fluctuations of sufficient amplitude may be used for detecting these fluctuations. Experience has shown that frequencies of 500 kilocycles or 10 megacycles are very satisfactory. Other frequencies could be used equally as well.

The circuit shown herein was operated at megacycles, and may be briefly described as follows:

The circuit consists of an oscillator section which consists of double-triode 129 forming a conventional push-pull oscillator. Grid resistors 136 and 138 are connected to control grids 132 and 134 of tube 129. Coupling capacitors 12 iand 126 are connected to plates 130 and 123 of tube 12$. Cathodes 140 and 142 are connected to ground. Tank coil 116 is connected to plates 128 and 130, and tuning capacitor 118 is connected across tank coil 116. Shield 117 is used for electrical shielding of tank coil 1115. Radio frequency choke 112 is connected to the center tap of tank coil 116, and to a positive direct voltage carried by wire 216. By-pass capacitor 110 is connected to the center tap of tank coil 116 and to ground.

The radio frequency voltage from tank coil 116 fed to a Wheatstone bridge consisting of one arm containing adjustable resistor 120, variable capacitor 122, fixed capacitor 144, another arm containing the electrodes and capacitors 114 and 146. The other two arms are formed by the two halves of tank coil 116.

The capacitors 114 and 146 serve to allow the radio frequency to pass to the electrodes 3 while blocking out the direct voltage applied to the tank coil 116 at its center tap 115. Since this device is in control box 52 several feet from the electrodes 8, it is necessary to connect the electrodes 8 by means of cables 166 and 168 which are shielded to prevent radiation and interaction between cables 106 and 108.

The output of the bridge is taken from the junction of capacitors 14-4 and 146 and conducted along shielded wire 145 to a tuned circuit consisting of coil 148 and variable capacitor 156, tuned to the frequency of the oscillator. Coil 148 and capacitor 151 are shielded electrically by shield 149. The output is then fed to control grid 161) of radio frequency amplifier 163, consisting of screen grid 161 connected to a source of positive potential and by-passed by capacitor 156, cathode 158, adjustable cathode resistor 154 and by-pass capacitor 152, suppressor 162 connected to cathode 158 and plate 164.

The amplified signal appears at plate 164 and is conducted along shielded wire 166 to a tuned circuit consisting of coil 168 and capacitor 170, both of which are electrically shielded by shield 171. Direct voltage is fed to plate 164 through resistor 1'78 and radio frequency choke 1'76. By-pass capacitor 174 is used to bypass the radio frequency voltage to ground.

The resonant voltage appearing across coil 168 is led through capacitor 172 to the plate 181) of diode 181, said plate 181 being also connected to ground through resistor 173. Cathode 182 of diode 181 is connected through resistor 184 and through by-pass capacitor 136 to ground. Diode 181 serves to rectify the high frequency signal from coil 163. The resistor 154 and capacitor 1156 act as a filter for the rectified high frequency, thereby yield- {ing a signal through coupling capacitor 189 to the vacuum tube 2113 free of high frequency, as is well known in the art, and consisting only of the fluctuations produced by the cigarette rod.

This signal is applied through capacitor 139 to capacitor resistor combination 188 and 190 and to grid 194 of triode 203, through resistor 192. Triode 2'33 has its cathode 260 connected to cathode resistor 196, which is varied by means of tap 198. Plate 202 of triode 203 is connected to relay 204.

A conventional power supply 153 is used. Filament power is supplied from winding 22%. Positive direct voltage is supplied from wires 214 and 216.

The fluctuating signal at the cathode 182 of tube 181, caused by the moving rod, is always positive, because of the rectifying action of diode 181. However, after passing through capacitor 188 only the alternating current component remains. Under the condition of a stationary rod the high frequency voltage .that appears at coil 168 is rectified and filtered as describedpreviously, but-because there is no A. C. component of the signal, no voltage appears at the grid of the tube 263, being blocked by capacitor 189.

Tube 263 is biased to a relatively low current, insuificient to hold in relay 264 in series with its anode 2112. This condition is obtained by adjusting adjustable resistor 196 in series with its cathode 200, and exists when the rod has stopped moving or when there is no rod in the electrodes. Under these conditions the voltage across resistor 184 does not fluctuate and no signal is transmitted to grid 1% of tube 203.

When the rod is moving through the electrodes however, the fluctuating signal passes through capacitor 189. The increase in plate current through tube 263 for the positive parts of the signal being greater than the decrease during the negative parts, the average plate current increases to a value suflicient to pull in relay 2114. When elay 254 is energized, contacts 204a close, closing the circuit to magnetic clutch 40 which is constantly driven from the machine through sprocket chain 4 1. When the magnetic clutch 40 is energized it is coupled to the counter 36 to cause it to rotate and hence count. D. C. power is supplied to the clutch through a full wave bridge rectifier 2116, which contains no capacitance which might act to prevent the clutch from dropping out quickly after contacts 204a open.

To set up the unit a milliammeter is plugged into jack 185 and the bridge is balanced for the tobacco used on the machine. Balancing is accomplished as follows:

With the machine producing average weight cigarettes at machine operating speed, the bridge is balanced by means of resistor 1211 and capacitor 122, these being varied in succession until the rnilliammeter hovers around zero. Once set this adjustment will hold thereafter. This setting is such that for average weight cigarettes the voltage output at cathode 182 of tube 131 will be zero. However, from experience it is known that a cigarette rod will have sufficient variation in density from instant to instant, even when the machine is producing average weight cigarettes, to provide enough fluctuation in voltage at cathode 182 of tube 181 to cause an increased current flow in tube 203 thereby energizing relay 204.

This device has also the advantage that it can be used as a rapid means of checking the degree of signal fluctuations produced by the cigarette rod. In such a case the circuit would operate as follows:

For the relay 294 to become energized it is necessary that sufiicient voltage be present at the cathode 182 of diode 181. For a particular machine operating condition and type of tobacco the amount of signal fluctuation at cathode 182 of diode 181 will depend upon the amount of amplification. The amount of amplification may be varied by means of the variable control of rheostat 154. If then, under a given set of machine and tobacco conditions, a setting of the control 155 of rheostat 154 is obtained which just permits relay 264 to pull in without again dropping out, thus lighting the indicator lamp L, a calibrated point is obtained for comparison with the .machine when the tobacco is changed, and/or the machine operating conditions are changed.

In view of the foregoing it will be evident that we have provided a simple device in the form of a knob 155 which permits a convenient check to be made on the quality of material being produced by the machine with which our invention is emloyed. In other words, an operator sets the knob 155 at the critical point where the light L just goes on or off when the knob is just turned slightly in either direction past this point.

When checking on the quality of the material being produced by the machine an operator merely has to turn the knob 155 slightly to see if the pointer is still at the criticalpoint and since the knob 155 has a pointer which moves over a calibrated background this will indicate that the qualityof cigarettes being produced is lower or Zhigherdepending on the direction which the indicating knob 155 is turned. The operator will know from past experience that when the machine is producing the quality of material desired that the knob will be at a particular setting. Consequently any deviations of the pointer past this setting when it is adjusted to the critical point by an operator, will indicate that the condition of the material being produced is either above or below the standards desired. The operator after having determined this point sets the knob at a higher amplification sufficient to cause the relay 204 to remain energized at all times regardless of the degree of fluctuation and depend ent only on the fact that fluctuations exist. While applicants have provided a manual knob for ascertaining the critical point this could be done automatically if desired so that the pointer of the knob 155 would always be at the critical point and the light would always be glowing.

For purposes of obtaining a still higher degree of accuracy of measurement of the cigarette rod density or other material, one may employ a circuit similar in design to that shown in copending application of Brockhuysen and Petrucelly, Serial Number 148,662, filed March 9, 1950, wherein frequencies of the order of 100 megacycles are employed.

Figure 3 constitutes a modified form of the present invention. In this form of the invention, the cut-off knife and a bell mouth cigarette guide are employed as electrodes and the cigarette rod is used as an impedance between the said electrodes. The action of the cut-off knife in passing through the cigarette rod serves to add an impedance equal to the length of the cigarette rod located between the cut-off knife 400 and the electrode 408 mounted in bell mouth 406. The cut-off knife 400 passes through the cigarette rod R as it is supported by the ledger plates 402 which are made of insulating material. High frequency voltage is brought to electrode 408 through shielded cable 410, connected to coil 412.

The addition of this impedance across the grid circuit coil 412 is sufiicient to cause the oscillator 433 to drop out of oscillation thereby increasing the current through resistor 432, connected to cathode 430 of triode 431. The increased current results in increased voltage sufficient to store an impulse in a conventional decade counter 434. Each time the cut-off knife 400 passes through the rod R, an impulse is generated in cathode resistor 432 of triode 431 which acts on the decade counter 434, through wires 435 and 437. At the end of each ten impulses or any other desired multiple a count appears on counter 436.

The oscillator circuit consists of a triode 431 with its associated cathode resistor 432, a parallel combination of grid leak 422 with capacitor 424 which are connected to grid 426 and to grid coil 412. Grid coil 412 is tuned by capacitor 420. For obtaining oscillation the grid coil 412 is coupled to a plate tank coil 414, which is tuned by capacitor 418. Both coils are electrically shielded in shield 416. Positive direct voltage is fed from wire 448 of power supply 438 to the lower end of coil 414. The upper end of coil 414 is connected to plate 428 of triode 431. The coils 412 and 414 are properly oriented to obtain oscillations. Power supply 438 is a conventional power supply for providing A. C. filament voltages and direct current plate voltages. The direct voltage is obtained from wire 448. Wires 444 and 446 supply filament power, and wires 440 and 442 are input power connections. Wire 450 serves as a ground connector.

It is to be understood that the oscillator described above is not unique and that other types may be used, subiect only to the condition that they have sufiicient sensitivity to drop out of oscillation when the cigarette rod impedance is added to a high impedance portion of the circuit.

The invention above described may be varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for counting cigarettes being manufactured from a continuous cigarette rod in a cigarette-making machine comprising a high frequency bridge circuit, electrodes spaced adjacent the path of travel of said cigarette rod and forming one arm of said circuit, a circuit for generating a high frequency voltage for energizing said bridge circuit, said bridge circuit having a high frequency output voltage continuously varying in amplitude, the amplitude variations of said voltage being representative of the variations in impedance of the continuous cigarette red as it passes said electrodes, an amplifier for amplifying said output voltage, a rectifier for rectifying said output voltage, a low pass filter circuit connected to said rectifier, said filter circuit having a low frequency output signal representative of said amplitude variations of said output voltage, a counter, a relay responsive to said low frequency signal for energizing a clutch to drive said counter, and connections between said clutch and the driving mechanism of said cigarette machine for imparting driving movement thereto.

2. Apparatus for controlling the operation of a cigarette counter in a cigarette making machine having a counter, a drive interconnecting said counter with a moving part of said cigarette making machine, a clutch interposed in said drive for starting and stopping the operation of said counter, a pair of electrodes positioned adjacent the path of travel of a continuous cigarette rod produced by said machine, an oscillatory circuit for genera-ting a high frequency voltage, means for imposing said high frequency voltage on said electrodes, a bridge circuit connected to said electrodes so that the impedance of each successive increment of cigarette rod passing through said electrodes forms a part of said bridge circuit, a rectifying circuit for detecting and filtering said high frequency voltage, said rectifier circuit having a continuously and randomly varying low frequency output signal representative of the continuously varying cigarette rod impedance, a relay actuated by said output signal for maintaining said clutch energized, and means for deenergizing said clutch as soon as said signal ceases.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,708,524 Tatz Apr. 9, 1929 1,806,093 Sorensen May 19, 1931 1,924,624 Roesen Aug. 29, 1933 2,337,132 Shaw Dec. 21, 1943 2,474,156 Katz June 21, 1949 2,508,965 Katz May 23, 1950 2,540,063 Victoreen Jan. 30, 1951 2,543,531 Lang Feb. 27, 1951 2,543,790 Maher et al. Mar. 6, 1951 2,544,529 Fielden Mar. 6, 1951 2,555,977 Kline June 5, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 284,822 Great Britain Feb. 9, 1928 OTHER REFERENCES Basic Radio, Hoag, D. Van Nostrand 00., Inc., 1942; page 259. 

